Pen Pushers

Seeing how the world revolves around the finger of God

03/08/2018

Luke 11:14-23 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed. Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons." Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."

I am rather fond of the adage, “the pen is mightier than the sword.” It means obviously that the hands wielding pens to write books have changed human history more than military might. Emperors and dictators might demand obedience at the tip of a sword, but hearts are moved to willing obedience and saintly sacrifice at the tip of a pen. How many kingdoms and nations and empires have ascended to power and then descended to be just a footnote in the pages of history but the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John continue to chart the course of humanity’s future?

One pen I am personally grateful for is the one carried in the pocket of St. Francis Xavier. St. Francis was a close companion of St. Ignatius of Loyola, who started the mighty Jesuits. St. Francis traveled to India to evangelize my ancestors, and his hand may have baptized my great, great, great grandfather! A relic of St. Francis’ hand and arm (miraculously preserved from decay) travels all over the world, like St. Francis’ whole body did in the 16th century. St. Francis took up his pen to write to his spiritual brother St. Ignatius, saying: “Again and again, I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially Paris, and crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those with more learning than charity: ‘What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell thanks to you!’” My salvation owes more to the pen of St. Francis than to the politics of presidents or prime ministers.

Jesus almost adopts this adage when he explains his power to cast out demons. The people think real power is a kind of physical force, like tanks and battleships. So they say: “By the power of Beelzelub, the prince of demos, he casts out demons.” When the Jews thought of power, they envisioned the armies of the Roman empire that had subjugated them. But Jesus replies: “But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” The Jews thought that swords and spears defined strength, but Jesus believed that his little finger was stronger than the armies of Caesar or Beelzebub. Satan needs an army, but God needs only a finger. Michaelangelo depicted the power of God’s little finger in the fresco of the creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel. God’s finger reaches out to touch Adam’s finger, bringing him into existence and launching all human history. It was the finger of the Son of God that would recreate humanity into the Church and launch all salvation history. Jesus did precisely that through the pens of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John…and St. Francis Xavier.

Let me suggest to you a couple of ways you can be touched by the finger of God, and feel real power. First of all, read the Bible. Those seventy-three sacred books were not written merely by human hands, but they were co-authored by the Holy Spirit. I admit it can be hard to see God’s hand in the numbing details of Deuteronomy or in the savage battle of the Judges. But it is there. St. Augustine at first turned up his nose at the simple and unsophisticated style of the Scriptures. But after his conversion, he wrote hardly one paragraph without quoting some Bible verse, just read his Confessions.

And second read the writings of the saints, like St. Francis Xavier. You have probably already done that if you have read anything written by Pope John Paul II, or Mother Teresa. I would also suggest getting Bishop Taylor’s book on Blessed Stanley Rother. The saints knew better than anyone that the pen is mightier than the sword. They often died by the sword, but their writings are more alive today then the legacy of those who persecuted them.

“But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” The world revolves not around the tip of a sword, but around the tip of a pen; indeed, around the tip of the finger of God.

Praised be Jesus Christ!